"And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering...." (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)

Monday, August 11, 2008

CHANGE PARTNERS AND DANCE?

This week on As the World Turns...

Lily and Holden have been married three times. Carly and Mike conceived one daughter, Nora (Carly miscarried), and thought they'd conceived another, Sage (she turned out to be Jack's). Lily and Mike were good friends back in the day when he was helping her search for the evil Umberto (see all three below).

12 comments:

My thought is that this show is ridiculous. Two weeks ago there was no hint of a Lily-Mike romance and now there they are, doing it on the couch. Holden and Carly had sex in a cabin at sleepaway camp.

Meanwhile, it's been a YEAR since Luke and Noah first kissed and they're roaming the halls of the Snyder Farm with blue balls, apparently too stupid to get a hotel room or take advantage of Noah's big truck or break Emma's silly rules.

Does this show have some sort of rule against giving fans something we might actually enjoy seeing? And why is it that the couple that has brought the show more publicity than any other is relegated to backburner status on the show and on this blog?

Holden/Carly, Lily/Mike, Parker/Liberty, Casey/Emily...this show has no problem with uninteresting and inappropriate couples hitting the sheets. Meanwhile, Luke and Noah fans have been waiting nearly a year for them to express their love to one another and now that it seems like it's (way past) time, the characters are nowhere to be found. Typical. I guess I should get used to the disappointment, huh?

What I think about Lily and Mike hitting the sheets ?? Seriously, I think it's one more evidence that ATWT's PTB think the fans and the viewers are total morons...

Those two characters weren't in the same storylines two weeks ago and never mentionned each other during months... And now, they're suddenly having sex !! And what about Luke & Noah who are a loving couple since one year !! When will they sleep together and make love like ALL the other couples, even the most improbable ones ?? No, no sex for Luke & Noah : those two grown up adults who deeply love each other since months have just the right to have very short kiss scenes cut off before the end of the kiss and to talk a little about the sex they never had and will probably never have... And the rest of the time, they don't even exist... That's totally lame !!

Lily and Mike hooking up is stupid, plain and simple. I think it's really sad that, once again, this show has resorted to taking two completely random characters and throwing them in bed together even if it doesn't make any sense. Mike and Lily may have teamed up and been friends a decade ago but they have had around 5 conversations with each other in the last 5 years. This really is coming out of nowhere.

Holden/Carly and Casey/Emily are in the same boat. A couple months ago, viewers would be shocked just to see these characters share a scene together in a single episode. And now, all of the sudden they have had sex mulitiple times and they're delcaring their love for each other! It's ridiculous.

Meanwhile, you have Luke and Noah who have been in love and committed to each other LONG before the writers ever thought up these insane pairs and yet they STILL have not consummated their relationship. Half the time, they don't even ACT like they want to make love to each other. I think it's gone past the point of being insulting to my intelligence.

What do I think about Mike and Lily having sex? I think it's ridiculous. Just last week, Mike told Lily he didn't want to be her 'rebound' guy, and that he didn't want to play games. These two have barely had any scenes together, and yet they're already half naked on a couch together, while Luke and Noah, who have been through more than any young couple should have to go through in their first year together, haven't done anything more than kiss! It's about time the writers let "Nuke" fans see Luke and Noah's relationship take the next step.

So yet another inappropriate straight couple will knock boots. Quelle surprise! I'm frankly sick of the endless parade of straight folks who are jumping into the sack after meeting or getting together suddenly after years of hardly noticing each other. (Parker and Liberty? Really?!?!) Meanwhile, the only real, romantic couple on the show under the age of 50, Luke and Noah, are made to be eunuchs.

There was a time in soaps when couples would go a long time before consummating because of obstacles placed before them, and that would enhance the romance. I know that those in charge will say that's what is happening here, but it's not. Instead of actual obstacles, Luke and Noah have only gotten one pathetic excuse after another that (through horrible writing) are presented as obstacles, which anyone with half a brain could overcome in two seconds. Thus, we get a lot of romance with none of the obstacles which makes their celibacy seem absolutely ridiculous. At this point, the celibacy of Luke and Noah has become as distracting from the story as the kiss ban was earlier this year. (And, yes, we know there was a ban. We're not idiots.) It's discrimination, plain and simple. And I won't even get into their lack of screentime.

I would obviously like to see Luke and Noah move forward, but I would also like to see the rest of the show be watchable as it was once upon a time. What I really want to know is if people who want to save the show instead of driving it into the ground through awful writing and casting choices will ever be put in charge.

My thoughts? My thoughts are that this is completely out of the blue. Lily and Mike haven't even seen each other since he got back to town. Add to that we already know Jon Prescott is leaving the show so there isn't even any dramatic tension. And I'm getting really tired of the fact that Luke and Noah's chastity belts are remaining firmly in place while everyone and Luke's parents jump into bed with any random passerby. Parker and Liberty (who, by the way, have absolutely no chemistry), Jack and Janet, Holden and Carly, now Lily and Mike? It's completely unrealistic that this couple who have been together for a year have yet to consummate their relationship while every other couple on the show is jumping into bed willy nilly. Not only that, it's insulting to fans who actually enjoy romance to build and build and build this relationship (usually in 8 minute increments once a week), and never actually pay it off.

I didn't respond at first because I wasn't sure how to phrase it. But there are a whole host of things bothering me about this Lily/Mike that I thought I'd add my $.02

First off, in a show where it was okay for a son to call his mother a slut, it frustrates me no end that this dynamic is being set up again. Faith is approximately the same age as Parker. She'd be rocked if she knew what her mom was doing. And yet, that dynamic is still allowed.

Secondly, if Lily is so devastated by Holden and Carly, so hurt that her husband would do this with her best friend, I don't believe she would turn around and do the same thing. I understand that in soaps - as well as in real life - many people hide their emotions behind sex. However, sleeping with some guy that she believes Carly liked, just to prove that she's over Holden, is the definition of junior high politics. I'd like to think that as a supposed grown up, that Lily could make wiser choices. She's a woman, not an emotionally stunted whore. There is a difference, even if the writers of ATWT don't seem to be able to tell the difference.

Third, for a show that was all about promoting birth control (even if they promoted it terribly) and smarter sex decisions, this seems ridiculously impulsive. What it shows me is that Liberty and Parker (at 16 and 15 respectively) make stupid choices. Fortunately, they had excellent role models in the adults in Oakdale. I get that the romance of hooking up, and needing someone even when you know that person is a bad choice, is a big part of soap plots, but this? This is insane even by those standards.

Fourth, Lily and Mike were friends. Just like Lily and Carly were friends. If Lily isn't going to impulsively sleep with Carly to get back at Holden (and trust me, that would be much more direct and to the point), then why would she sleep with Mike? Why would Mike sleep with her? There is no earthly justification. It's lazy writing. Fanfic writers write Porn without Plot and it's good. If it's not going to at least have the benefit of being good, why have it at all?

Finally, and this is the one that so many have already addressed, can we compare and contrast this impulsive and compulsive need for slot A in tab B v. the love that Noah and Luke share? I guess it could be considered oddly subversive to say that if you're a heterosexual you basically have no respect for your body or your partners and will fuck anything with a pulse and a penis or a vagina. However, it doesn't change the fact that the message I gain like a hammer to the head is that to be in a loving, committed homosexual relationship is to be a eunuch. Find me two nineteen year old males, one of whom owns a huge truck, the other who has relatives connected to a swanky hotel, who would not have figured out a place to have sex by now? It's insulting to their characters, and it's insulting to the fans.

Physical intimacy should be associated with love, honor and respect, not a cheap thrill to ignore the fact that you love your cheating rat bastard of a husband who you yourself have cheated on already. I'm glad to know that I've been watching one couple develop just to be ignored to see other non-couples behave like animals in heat.

It's neither attractive nor romantic, nor in anyway logical, character- or plot- building to show the amount of gratuitous sex between the heterosexual non-couples of Oakdale. I don't want to know that to be a heterosexual is to prioritize sex over anything (friends, family, dignity), and to be a homosexual is to be devoid of any urges at all.

Moments like serve as nothing more than ways to alienate your viewers. Good job.

How much of this inane crap are the viewers supposed to put up with? In the meantime Luke and Noah are languishing in s/l hell not permitted to consummate their relationship because it might offend a few hate-filled bigots.

A little romantic man/man loving is too scary a sight for the kids to see (who shouldn't be watching anyway) but it's OK for them to see parents changing partners and 15 yr old kids having sex. IMO the Parker/Liberty s/l...that is beyond offensive.

This show needs to grow up and give us what we want....a realistically portrayed gay couple who show their love the same way as the straights. Enough with the stalling.

And poster Casey...Bravo... excellent comment...you have eloquently stated what is in the hearts and minds of every Luke and Noah fan.

My thoughts? If I wanted to watch partner swapping for the sake of partner swapping, I'd find some old episodes of Melrose Place. I want to see the actors with the best chemistry paired up and given good writing. That, in case you're wondering, would be Michael Park and Maura West. There isn't a duo on the show that can match them, and every day Maura is wasted in lackluster scenes with the uber-boring Jon Hensley is a day I tune out. Every day Michael Park is wasted in scenes with the uber-annoying Julie Pinson is a day I tune out. Also, I still miss Martha Byrne. It's obvious she was crucial to the popularity of Lily and Holden, because I couldnt care less about Lilden or Holden now.

Also, what does any of this have to do with Luke and Noah, really? Personally, I think if Luke had an interesting boyfriend played by a better actor, they'd have more screen time. Every Nuke story so far has fallen flat because Jake Silberman is a marginal talent at best. Luke needs a new boyfriend, stat, and maybe then we'd see a compelling gay love story. Well, a new head writer would help, too.